The Kirkus Prize is one of the richest literary awards in the world, with a prize of $50,000 bestowed annually to authors of fiction, nonfiction and young readers’ literature. It was created to celebrate the 81 years of discerning, thoughtful criticism Kirkus Reviews has contributed to both the publishing industry and readers at large. Books that earned the Kirkus Star with publication dates between November 1, 2014, and October 31, 2015, are automatically nominated for the 2015 Kirkus Prize, and the winners will be selected on October 23, 2015, by an esteemed panel composed of nationally respected writers and highly regarded booksellers, librarians and Kirkus critics.

KIRKUS REVIEW

A gentle adaptation of the familiar call-and-response game. Teacher shows a picture of a lion and passes out safari hats to her multiethnic students, who look to be in kindergarten. Magically, their classroom door opens onto an African terrain, and the hunt is on. They slog through mud, snap through sticks, climb trees, splash through a river and swish through the tall grass before reaching the dark cave, where all that can be seen is a pair of yellow eyes. After getting too close to the king of the jungle, back they go, triple-time. The soft colors in Mathieu’s pencil illustrations are attractive, and he offers a variety of facial expressions and action poses on the exuberant children in every two-page spread. While nothing beats or can replace the classic Rosen-Oxenbury collaboration, We’re Going on a Bear Hunt (1989), the classroom setting this outing offers makes it a terrific invitation for young listeners to take “Lion Hunt” out of the story circle for some happy dramatic play. (Picture book. 3-7)

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